Through Glass
by Sarcastic-Bones
Summary: Scorpius has been drifting through life for the past few years, until one evening he sees Rose again, through the glass of a shop window. Maybe it's just the wake up call he needs.


Crystals.

She'd been wearing crystal earrings the last time he'd seen her.

Her amber hair had been tied up into a messy bun, almost as if she'd put no effort into it, but he knew she had. Her dress had been green, glittery.

He'd been transfixed, captured.

Just as he had been every time he'd seen her, every time he'd walked into class to see her talking casually with her friends, or bumped into her in Hogsmeade on the weekend or met her for drinks in the early years of their apprenticeship together.

Just as he was now, seeing her through the glass of the large shop window.

It had been raining all day. All week, more like. Not that it made much difference to him - he'd been stuck at his desk inside the dull Ministry walls, cataloguing mindless paper after paper, cursing himself for not pursuing a career in Quidditch.

He'd finally left work late in the evening, thrown his leather jacket on, shoved his hands deep into his pockets to stave off the cold, and decided to walk down the busy Diagon Alley for a little while. It wasn't like there was anything waiting for him at home.

Then he'd seen her.

He'd frozen in surprise, almost fear, really.

Surprise because they hadn't spoken in so long, hadn't clapped eyes on each other for the best part of two years. Or was it three? He'd been stuck in a dead end job for so long, the days had begun to blur together, then the weeks, then months. It had been hard to keep in touch with anybody. Even her.

Fear, or strong anxiety, because he didn't know what to say if she saw him too. He didn't know if he should just keep on walking and pretend the moment had never happen. He didn't know if he could.

She was with a group of friends, laughing, drinking, celebrating - it seemed. He'd be interrupting, surely?

But… they'd always been friends. He could play the scene through his mind; he knew exactly how it would go. He'd enter, feigning a coincidence, she'd hug him and squeal in delight at seeing an old friend and introduce him to her new ones. They'd ask each other how they'd been, then he'd be invited to stay and join in the merriment, which he'd deny, of course. In front of her friends, they'd be perfectly usual, which would be fine, except their relationship wasn't usual, wasn't simply that of school friends or work colleagues.

He couldn't stay.

A couple brought him back to his surroundings, laughing as they crossed the street to enter the shop on the opposite side of the road.

He glanced up - the stars were out in abundance. They soothed his anxiety, helped him sort through his confusion.

Would he be able to live with himself if he simply left?

They hadn't bumped into each other once since the last time he'd seen her in that green dress two, no three, years ago.

He turned back to glance at her laughing figure through the large pub window.

It felt like forever.

She was standing at the bar, leaning one elbow on the table and casually holding a drink in the other, apparently teasing one of her friends. She was completely oblivious to him.

He lifted a foot off the ground, preparing himself to take a step backwards, away from her.

But he hesitated, paused, then stopped altogether. He took a step closer to the glass. Rain soaked it, making the view cloudy, but still certain.

The hood of his jumper underneath his jacket was soaked now, the rain beginning to pick up again. He pushed it down off his face, wanting to get the wet fabric away from his skin. He flicked his fringe out of his eyes, placing a hand on the glass, now inches from him.

She turned.

There was no reason for her to acknowledge his presence - nobody had told her, he hadn't made any sudden movements - it was as if she simply _felt_ it.

Her body went rigid, she stood up straight and placed her drink down on the bar top in case she dropped it altogether.

Her friends didn't notice at first.

She mouthed something, but even from outside he knew she hadn't spoken aloud.

She raised a hand in front of her body, unconsciously imitating his position. Her palm wasn't flat, almost as if her movements had been slowed down by her surprise.

_Hey_, he breathed, the words only half sounding and his breath fogging up the part of the window in front of him.

She managed a weak smile back, not hostile, just… recovering from her astonishment at seeing him.

Her friends noticed then, all turning as one to see what she was looking at. Most of them were confused by her response to seeing an old friend, but a few appeared aware of him. Evidently she'd told them something about him - enough, at least, for them to know who he was without needing to ask.

They tried to encourage her to do something, invite him to join them, no doubt, but instead she downed the last of her drink, hurriedly collected her purse from the bar top and swiftly left the pub.

He'd been standing near the door anyway, so as soon as she exited, they were face to face.

He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything appropriate to say.

They should have spoken long ago, they should have kept in touch, but they hadn't. _'Speak to you soon'_ she'd said the last time he'd seen her. If only they had known then just how long it would be.

She saved him from having to come up with a reason by flinging herself into his arms, burying her head in the crook between his shoulder and neck. He caught her, stumbling back slightly from the force and shock at her actions. He clung to her for longer than the usual hug should be, reluctant to let her go in case they disappeared from each other's lives again.

"It's been forever," She whispered, stepping out of his arms, but not completely away from him.

He agreed, "It definitely feels that way."

She smiled, then asked politely, "How are you?"

He ignored it - she knew not to expect an answer - and changed topic. "You're getting soaked - here…"

Taking off his jacket, he draped it around her shoulders. She smiled awkwardly in thanks, accepting the item which had become so familiar to her in recent years.

They lapsed into silence. Shy smiles were exchanged until a thought struck her and she voice it.

"What happened to us?" She asked regretfully.

"We lost touch," he responded.

"But… how?" It was rhetorical - there was no real answer to that, and even if there was, it wouldn't change the fact that they hadn't spoken in years. "I miss you every day, but I still don't pick up the phone and call, even though it's only a button away. And I don't know why."

"It just became easy to not try, not to make an effort," He sighed, then admitted, "I'm stuck in a routine, Rose, and I can't break the habit. Everything I do now seems to be on autopilot. Seeing you just now, it… it woke me up."

"Three years on autopilot is a long time, Scorpius."

"I know… I don't think I was aware of how long I'd been miserable for until now. I just knew it had been a while. That last time I saw you, at the party, and you were wearing that green dress - seeing you now feels like nothing's changed. It feels like I haven't wasted three years stuck in an uninspiring job with no aspirations. But I have."

She took his hand gently in hers. Always the optimist, she advised, "Escape then…"

"Oh, believe me, tomorrow morning I'm quitting the damn thing," He smiled in surprise at the truth of his own words. He wasn't going back, not now.

They'd lost touch, by accident, by chance, but that same chance had brought them back together and now that he'd been given his freedom back, his feeling for life, he wasn't going to waste it again.

She laughed quietly. "You better come meet my friends then - they're looking for a Keeper for their Quidditch team at work."

She spun, tugging his hand in the direction of the door. He followed her a step, then hesitated. She turned back to him inquisitively.

"Who will I be? To you, I mean…" He wanted it made clear on introduction. He wasn't going to go down the route they had been in previous years - not knowing where their relationship stood, not knowing what they were.

"My friend," She smiled. "It doesn't need to be more complicated than that, does it?"

"I guess not," He agreed.

"For now, anyway," She clarified.

She shot him another beautiful smile as she turned back to drag him into the pub to meet her friends. Her touch was soft and her presence warming.

He felt like it had been a long time since he'd been this happy, this awake - three years, to be exact.

_It felt like forever._


End file.
